I sincerely believe that it is far more beneficial and far less costly to help a child build confidence than it is to fix an adult who has little or none.

Do you have patience?

by imconfident on January 31, 2014

In this fast-paced world, people want to have everything right now. Nobody likes to wait for anything and if they can’t get things instantly, they become impatient. Instant gratification brings an instant rush and that can feel good for a short period of time, but it isn’t lasting.

Do you ever stop and take a look at how other people are acting? Do you ever stop and take a look at how you are acting? Do these instances sound familiar?

You have a fit when you are waiting in line for fast food and it is taking forever (maybe 2 min??)

You start swearing when the traffic is heavy and nobody seems to be moving?

You say something rude to the cashier who seems to be very slow?

You get irritated when the waiter or waitress makes a mistake in your order?

We need to slow down and learn how to face life with patience instead of getting all bent out of shape when things don’t go our way as quickly as we think they should. Accept situations that are out of your control. Having a fit while waiting in line, getting irritated or making rude comments when people seem to be slow, will not encourage them to work faster. Swearing at the traffic will not help it move any faster. Besides there are probably valid reasons for things not moving along quickly. Maybe that line is slow because there is a staff shortage due to sickness or there was an unexpected rush of customers all at once. Maybe the traffic is heavy because there was an accident and people were hurt or injured. Maybe the cashier is slow because she was up all night looking after a sick baby and she is tired. Maybe the waitress made a mistake because she has a headache or she is under a lot of stress from personal issues.

Besides we all make mistakes and we all have bad days. What if you were having a bad day and someone got irritated at you because you were slow or made a mistake? Would that be fair?

Patience is really a virtue that we should work on daily. I used to get so irritated when I had to wait for anything, but my impatience just caused me to develop a bunch of stress related health problems. People have heart attacks because they get so stressed out and is it worth it? Now that I’ve worked hard to become more patient, my life is so much more peaceful.